Eighty years ago, the world looked a little different. It also looked the same.
Young people married. My parents exchanged vows Sept 10, 1936.
Young couples worked. Dad was a farmer. They rented a place. Later they bought another. Worked the land with horse power — the kind that ate hay and furnished fertilizer. Pumped water with wind power. Kept house without electricity.
Times changed. Inventions became available to less populated, rural areas. Children were born. Houses and farms were bought and sold. A job with the post office furnished the bulk of financial stability. Travel became more comfortable. And faster.
By the time the marriage ended (with the death of my father) it was sixty four years, ten months, and twenty three days later. They lived in a house in a small town with an oil furnace and air conditioning. An automobile and riding lawn mower occupied the garage. The water well pump was electric and low maintenance.
Times changed. People stayed the same — living a life of honest work, kindness to neighbors, and tolerance to those unlike them.
On this day I feel we could do well to do the same – regardless of the number of “gadgets” or dollars in our bank account.
